The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) released a quality management toolkit today to help small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) implement the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) suite of quality management standards.
The Quality Management Toolkit for Small- and Medium-Sized Firms and its companion Illustrative Risk Matrix include a suite of illustrative documents, policies, checklists, sample letters and forms to help SMPs establish their quality objectives, identify and assess quality risks, and design and implement responses to address their identified quality risks. The toolkit is designed to require each SMP to adapt the content to its nature, circumstances, and engagements, a crucial element given each firm goes through its own unique process developing its quality management system.
Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO, said: “Many SMPs face resource constraints that affect implementing the IAASB’s quality management standards, given the new standards require a more proactive and tailored approach to managing quality across firms of all sizes. By partnering with CA ANZ to adapt its excellent original materials for an international audience, we are providing SMPs, and the professional accountancy organizations that support them, with a clear roadmap to understanding and applying the standards to drive overall quality.”
Ainslie van Onselen, CA ANZ CEO and Chair-Elect of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, said: “High-quality audits are crucially important for enterprises of all sizes in markets around the world. Based on our experience using a similar approach in Australia and New Zealand, this toolkit will help SMPs implement the quality management standards and ensure that a commitment to quality is at the center of a firm’s strategy, operation, and service delivery for audits and other engagements. We are pleased to partner with IFAC to deliver these materials to the global accountancy profession. Our Australian and New Zealand version was well received and we hope this global version will be valuable to SMPs around the world.”
Individual practitioners can tailor and reproduce the quality management toolkit for non-commercial use without permission from IFAC. Otherwise, permission is required to reproduce, store, or transmit, or to make similar uses of the toolkit. Contact permissions@ifac.org. IFAC member organizations are invited to submit a permission request to provide their members with the toolkit, including adding their logo, as long as appropriate acknowledgement of IFAC and CA ANZ is included with the copyright notice.
This quality management toolkit joins IFAC’s collection quality management resources, including webinars, articles and videos, as well as the IAASB first-time implementation guides, all of which are available at ifac.org/qualitymanagement.
IFAC acknowledges and appreciates feedback from IFAC’s Small and Medium Practices Advisory Group and the Forum of Firms representatives in the development of the toolkit.
About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.
About CA ANZ
CA ANZ represents more than 136,000 Members around the world, offering its flagship CA Program, promoting the CA designation and high ethical standards and delivering world class services and lifelong education to its Members and advocates for the public good.
